The present invention relates to the field of articles of clothing, and more particularly to mittens for young children playing in the snow.
It is desirable to solve the age-old problem of snow getting in between the mitten and outer coat sleeves of young children, rendering the forearm unpleasantly cold and hence motivating the child to return to the indoors instead of having fun playing outdoors on a winters day. It is also desirable at the same time to prevent the mittens from falling off during play, which may result in loss of the mittens or exposing the child""s hands to the cold.
The closest prior art directed to this problem that was found during our patent office database search was a patent issued to Deering et al., U.S. Pat. No 5,361,415. This patent discloses an elongated insulating shell member that is sewed to a child""s mitten at one end thereof and that is held in place by an elastic band, attached to the elongated shell member at the opposite end of the insulating shell member, and gripping an arm portion of the child above the elbow. A stated object of the Deering invention is to deter the entrance of snow between the child""s forearm and the sleeve of the child""s coat, and additionally, to prevent the mitten from falling off during play. However, Deering""s elongated tubular sleeve is passed over the sleeve of the child""s outer coat until the elastic band grips the child""s arm above the elbow and his/her hand is fitted within the mitten. This results in a somewhat clumsy and bulky arrangement that tends to make the young toddler more uncomfortable. Young kids can be very cranky when uncomfortable. Also, fitting the Deering tubular sleeve over the sleeve of the overcoat can be tedious, annoying and time consuming.
In accordance with the present invention, a thin elongated snow shield sleeve, preferably of an elasticized fabric, is attached as an integral part of the child""s mitten. This snow shield sleeve extends up to the elbow region of the child""s arm once the child""s hand and forearm are passed through the sleeve and into the mitten. Once suited up with an overcoat, the sleeve of the child""s overcoat thereafter covers the thin elongated elasticized sleeve and the relatively bulky sleeve of the aforesaid prior art, fitted over the overcoat, is eliminated to contribute to the comfort of the child. With this arrangement the snow may not be completely blocked from entering the space between the inside of the child""s outer coat sleeve and the child""s wrist and forearm area, but the elasticized fabric attached to the mittens effectively shields the skin of the wrist and forearm from the cold snow. Also, the present invention lowers manufacturing costs as will be explained.